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| Herding Dogs: Progressive Training | 
 enlarge | Author: Vergil S. Holland
Creator: Wait Jagger
Publisher: Howell Book House
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $12.30
You Save: $9.65 (44%)
New (30) Used (11) Collectible (1) from $12.30
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 90756
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6 x 0.9
ISBN: 0876056443
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.70886
UPC: 785555038011
EAN: 9780876056448
ASIN: 0876056443
Publication Date: October 13, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 16 | | NEXT » |
 A good beginning and a life long aid to training. April 17, 2008
I first read this book when my first Aussie was about three months old. Frankly, I did not get it. I think it is difficult for the average person to learn how to work with a herding dog. Vergil Holland has not only put down all of the steps one might need to become successful at this activity, he has a lot of great advice in the book including very useful exercises and as the subtitle suggests, a progressive training method.
However, the reason I did not get it when I first read the book was that the meaning of much of what he says is dependent on having the actual experience of herding. After many years of training stock dogs, I went back and re-read this book. It was very revealing in that I found myself agreeing with almost everything he said about training. I also found it helpful to get a clear picture of exactly what I wanted to do in a training session to read the portion of the book-- usually fewer than two pages at a time-- that was relevant to what I wanted to acheive in the session. So for me, this has become a valuable hands on training tool.
I still recommend it to beginners and I think it would really help anyone getting ready for their first exposure to stock to have read the preliminary sections on getting started and basic commands. It would help the beginner become familiar with common training techniques and concepts so that a clinic experience would be more valuable than going in without the insights that are offered in this book.
But this is not just a book for beginners. It can be useful at several levels. For the more experienced trainer/handler, the troubleshooting section provides very useful exercises for solving common problems that are likely to be encountered.
I do think the section on herding breeds is a bit simplistic and in the case of Aussies not really accurate. But I think it is only there as a summary of what one might expect from herding breeds and therefore does not take into account the variance of different lines within a breed. I would not recommend the traits listed in this chapter to select your dog. However it does contain some very good advice such as basing your decision in part on the parents' abilities and characteristics.
The diagrams could be improved as was mentioned elsewhere, but they are accurate. The pictures are not very clear and they could be improved to actually demonstrate better the points they are intended to make.
Overall I give this book high marks and recommend it to anyone who is building up a stockdog library. But remember that there is a lot more information in this book than there appears to be at first reading. Go back to it often as your skills develop to really get the full potential of the book which really does offer a progressive training method.
I'm a Total Novice Herder with a Total Novice Dog March 13, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have always had an interest in herding dogs and have owned them and been around them most of my life; however I have never known anyone that had any real knowledge of training for herding, or had a dog that was trained for that matter. This book is fantastic for a total novice. It takes you carefully and "progressively" into the world of herding and explains everything from the very beginning, including the somewhat confusing language that is used to communicate with the dog while the two of you are at work. Thank you Mr. Holland!
Herding Dogs: Progressive Training March 4, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Brand new book received in good shipping time.
This book is very informative, easy to understand and clear as to how to apply what is presented.
I believe it will help any level of sheepdog handler.
 not for beginners September 16, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book contains some really great information. The author gives details about all of the herding breeds, including many that I didn't expect. He gives insights about what each breed has been specifically bred for, i.e. driving, gathering, etc., that is very helpful in understanding your dog. A careful study of the personality types of dogs as it affects their approach to stock is also extremely helpful. He also gives several progressive excercizes that that seem very useful. Also, I appreciated the calm, quiet, but firm training style emphasized in this book.
Despite that, I was disappointed with the lack of explanation and clarity. If you are just getting started in herding, as I am, this might not be the book for you. I was often confused and feel that this book lacks enough details about the training process to be useful for beginners. Also, the author's clear preference for Border Collies as the ultimate herding dog was emphasized at points in such a way that made me a bit defensive about my "inferior" non-border collie.
Experience is the best teacher.... May 23, 2006
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I suppose a person can learn to remove an appendix, fly a plane, or conduct a defense by reading a book; but I know I would prefer my surgeon, pilot, and attorney to have had some hands-on experience before practicing on me. Same thing goes for herding livestock - there just is no substitute for a good trainer who knows what they are doing. Having a background in obedience, tracking, and agility gave me no headstart in herding - and no amount of bookreading changed that. When I found a trainer who was able to read me and my dogs, communicate with us, and be fair but firm, we made great progress.
With that said, I think this book is very helpful as a supplement to practice sessions. Learning to read stock and dogs, understanding pressure and release, draws, balance points - all those concepts have to be learned by the human and there is no substitute for learning in the field, in actual practice. If a friend wanted a basic herding book to look at to see if it is something they might want to do, this would be the one book I would probably recommend. Better yet, though, would be to have this person actually come out and watch dogs working stock.
If you are doomed to be an armchair shepherd, then this book is fine. Otherwise, your money is better invested in a herding instinct test, a stock handling class, or a day spent observing at a herding training facility. Books are an adjunct, at best, to learning to work with your dog in herding.
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